The existing 1980s building occupied by Reuters is an unwelcoming event in a fine street. It provides an unfriendly urban realm about its perimeter and a poor internal environment. For our client we organised a competition to find an architect capable of winning the support of the local authority for a redevelopment worthy of the area. The winners were Hordern Cherry Lee.

Their replacement extended the existing structure supporting it with new columns external to the glazed enclosure, in the spirit of Far Eastern bamboo scaffolding, which touches the sky lightly and breaks down the increased bulk of the building. The consultancy helped to inspire the architects by analysing the existing context, making critiques of various propositions and fielding consultations with the planners. The structural pragmatics of the concept have generated a means for expressive composition which allows a contemporary intervention to harmonise with its historic townscape.